Fanfiction Loaf
by Kknd2
Summary: Ever had meatloaf? It is a single shape formed of many ground meats. This is much like that, with assorted writing pratice bits for Evangelion formed into a shape and presented here slice by slice. R&R requested by chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Fan-fiction Loaf

By:Brian Funk

the following chunks are simply random bits that came to me at random times, and may or may not occur in greater detail in a actual work of mine. I own nothing except the credit for typing this up.

It is the nature of such things to be disjointed.

Serving 1

"This is insane, theres no way that little toy can hurt my Unit 02!"

"I must agree, no machine can generate an AT Field, so it is impossible for the pilot to win." the ever logical blond agreed.

"That being said, fighting an enemy half your size will be good training for you Auska." Misato held her own in the verbal sparring match.

"The hostile machine is broadcasting a signal, audio visual." Huga was mildly interested, to go by his tone.

"Then view it." ah Gendo, calm as ever.

The view of Unit 02 standing in the middle of the flattened city center, with a machine less then half its size standing what was to scale only about ten feet away looking it in the eye, was replaced by the face of a young man of Japanese decent with a cross shaped scar on his right cheek, wearing a outfit that can only be seen in anime. Black body coating, with a red circle on the center of the chest, a series of what appeared to be over sized electrodes placed in strategic locations on his body. The wrists, ankles, and along the spine. The only other feature of note was the red headband tied around his head, holding the bangs of his long black and unruly hair out of his eyes. Confidence was writ large across his face.

"Speak." 'thats real diplomatic Gendo, we have no idea where that thing came from, or what it can do, and here you are insulting the pilot.' Dealing with people was not the sub commander's old student at his best.

"I am here because someone claimed they were the greatest pilot of all time. I need strong opponents, and anyone with the gall to make that claim either needs a lesson, or will provide me with a real challenge. Either way, I want to know who's piloting that over sized toy." 'Brash, confident, used to victory and not intimidated by the size difference at all.' As the thought sped through Gendo Ikari's head, his mind turned to what he did best, the very reason why he had been given command of NERV, his ability to take any situation and turn it to his own ends.

"Pilot, I require a moment to decide before I commit my pilot to battle." Auska was by now essentially begging to be let free to "stomp this little boy" But she was not audible with the link to Unit 02 muted. At the man's nod, Gendo gave the signal to cut audio connection with the intruder.

"Analysis" as usual Gendo did not ask for information, he commanded it be given.

"Our sensor network is showing a fusion reactor of unknown make as the power source, its output is currently more then all the reactors currently running NERV combined. Spectral analysis results on the material of the armor show similarities to titanium, but with so much of some unknown element the magi are withholding judgment" Maya reported with a fair amount of trepidation.

"Any recognizable armaments on that thing?" Misato placed a firm tone on the question.

"Other then a pair of Vulcan cannons on the head, and a few machine guns on the torso, I can only speculate that the barrels on the backs of its arms are some verity of energy pulse weapon, and we have no idea if it has internal weaponry."

"It seems... severely underarmed for a fight sir." Something was niggling at the back of Hyuga's brain even as he reported. Before Misato could even finish nodding, Gendo spoke again.

"Magi assessment Dr. Akagi?"

"Without more solid data to go on, the magi have placed it as a close quarters combat model. Its reactor is giving off a elementary particle that the magi have no record of, and they withhold judgment on the toughness of its armor compared to an Evangelion, based on its apparent weight, and the evident thruster system on its back, we can assume it can at least leap quite well, if not fly outright by sheer boost power. Still, even with the unknowns, the Magi do not believe that its reactor can produce the level of energy needed to penetrate an AT Field, and given that it appears to be entirely artificial, it has no counter to an AT Field. Based on that, the Magi give Auska a provisional seventy percent advantage in unarmed combat."

"Speaking of the magi, where exactly did this thing come from?" the sub commander finally asked the question hanging over everyones heads.

"Our sensors registered a inverse AT Field for a split second, and visual surveillance shows a... shadow forming on the ground, and then rising to form the machine. Given the speed of the action, the entire process is shown in three frames." Before Aoba could back the comment with the sensors, the commander moved on as usual.

"Operations Director, your judgment on the odds of the second in a duel with this machine?"

"As much as the things we don't know about it worry me, as long as it cant penetrate the AT Field, I can not see how it _can_ win. Provided the power cord is not cut, of course." Gendo simply nods, and motions for the audio to be restored. Apparently much to the relief of the machines pilot's impatience

"You have decided?" there is a note of scorn in the mans voice, audible to everyone on the bridge.

"Yes, You will be allowed to fight, here and now, if you have the courage to wager your machine on the outcome." 'Let us see if I have read you correctly.' apparently overcome with anger at the insult, the pilot animatedly replied "I am willing to risk my life, you can not say the same hiding behind that desk of yours while a real pilot fights in your place. I will make that bid, but only with the one who will fight me." To say that the entire population of the bridge other then the commander cringed at this pilot taking such an attitude with Ikari is a bit of an understatement. 'Fool, your pride is your undoing. I can read you like a book!' somewhere, as he did adjustments on the Gundam, Amuro sneezed.

"Very well, link the pilots."

Auska had realized they could not hear her of course, and after a few cracks at the commanders sexual preferences, and general insults to the entire command staff, she had settled down to wait, not realizing that the tapping of her foot was leaving imprints in the pavement as the Eva mimicked the action.

"We are linking you to the pilot of the machine now." She had been able to hear them just fine once she stopped shouting, but getting the visual was an experience. 'oh, I am going to wipe that confident look off his face, and they will be collecting parts from his little toy from around the city for weeks!' The man just looked her directly in the eyes, and said.

"You really think you are unbeatable in that machine?" 'oh ya, this will be good.' both pilots thought at once as she grinned back to him.

"You really think you have a chance of winning?"

"Against a machine without even a name of its own? If you care so little for your Mobile Fighter that you simply call it by a serial number, it must be nothing special." 'Say _WHAT_?'

"Oh really small fry? This is Evangelion Unit 02, the final production model of the Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon! And to show you just how strong I really am, I am letting you throw the first punch. But you better give me your best shot, or I wont even bother fighting you, I will just crush you like the little bug you are!"

Naturally the bridge crew had been watching the little... dialog with interest, and an ever increasing number of rolled eyes, to the point that after her last remark even the commander wound up doing it.

"Very well then, I will give you my best shot, and you will see why I was chosen to pilot this Shining Gundam." the com link cut off, and several members of the bridge crew gasped. Shegriu actually voiced the thought in his shock. "Shining _Gundam_?" Hyuga's mind suddenly connected the appearance of the machine to his memories, but he never got the screen time to mention it. Unperturbed as usual, Gendo Ikari simply commented on the statement in an off hand manner. "I owe the elder Dr. Akagi twenty yen, it seems the many worlds theory is accurate."

Naturally outside Auska had placed Unit 02 into a completely open standing position, her AT Field deployed a few feet from the head of her Eva, confident in her safety. The smaller machine shifted into a martial stance, and took a few steps backwards, Auska immediately believed it was fear. But to the skilled observer it was clearly a set of measured steps, an action done by rote muscle memory without conscious thought. The external pickups on Unit 02, combined with the smaller speakers on Shining Gundam rendered his question tinny to Auskas ears. "Just to be clear, you want me to hit you with my strongest attack?"

without even moving, or thinking for that matter, Auska replied "Bring your best."( if this was hero yui, you can bet she would have finished that with "see for yourself just how powerless you are")

as the control crew watched the Gundam go through a short routine, the remarkable precision of each movement was a shock, used to the stumbling movements of the Evangelions, the seemingly ponderous movements of something over twice its size, it provoked comment.

"That movement, it must be pre-scripted right?" Maya's voice was the very sound of disbelief  
"of course, no system can trace the pilots motions with that level of precision on the fly" Akagi's thoughts betrayed her real feelings. 'or is it no system we have?'

Then to their shock, two things happened at once. The machine.. changed. The shoulders opened up, the shield like joint ends on the legs popped opened to expose additional thrusters and the side fins on the feet locked down. But it was the face of the Gundam that changed the most, from giving the impression of a Samurai's helmet concealing the face of its wearer, it... blossomed, a golden inner glow filled with golden dust flying from every exposed area that was once concealed. Their sensors reported at this same time a massive increase in power output and thermal discharge from the Shining Gundam, along with an immense number of the unidentified particles from the reactor. For an instant the screen flickered before the sudden interference was overcome by switching to land lines. The Magi overlapped a particle density display on the secondary screens, showing the unknown particles being drawn in great torrents to the right hand of the machine, but all eyes were affixed to the main screen.

The Shining Gundam drew its right arm back above its head, left arm forward pointing its open palm to the face of the Crimson giant before it, the legs tensed, and as the machine shifted its weight backwards and down, the right hand opened its fingers, The Glowing particles surrounding it drawn into the hand itself, as the comm channel opened to show the pilot poised in exactly the same manner, glowing circuits covering his right hand up to the elbow. Time seemed to slow, and the calm voice of Domon Kasshu dove into the minds of the witnesses. "This hand of mine glows with an awesome power, its bright cry tells me to defeat you and your stubborn pride! SHINING FINGER!" The moment of slowed time shattered like a crystal, the Shining Gundam streaking forth on a blazing trail of blue/white plasma, the green glow of its open hand leaving a streak of color against the grey of the cityscape. Leaping directly for the face of Unit 02, its flight was suddenly arrested against a wall of orange hexagons, the out stretched left hand straining against the field, pushed against the unyielding wall of her pride by the flames of his own. "You think your pride will protect you? I'll show you the light of a real fighters soul!" The Magi took several milliseconds trying to make up their collective mind, which for computers of their power, is an eternity. Then they posted the results at the bottom of the screen, so as not to obscure the visual feed. "AT Field Detected, Pattern Red, Source Unknown Machine's pilot cavity." The Green light of the right hand became a white one, a light so bright that the automatic glare filtering software rendered everything save the glowing wall of Auskas pride, the glowing hand of Domon's defiance, and their machines matched glowing eyes black. Then her brought the hand forward unto the AT Field. For an instant, their minds faced the question "Which is stronger, an Evangelions AT Field, or the will of one man?" the correct question rang only in the minds of the commander and Dr. Akagi "Which is stronger? Her pride, or His Will?" Time slowed again, as if fate herself was weighing the options and their consequences, and then the terrifying sound of doom's crack was heard. 'Not-' The glowing hand of Domon's will crashed through the AT Field, planting itself in the precise center of the four glowing eyes of the Red Giant. Inside the entry plug, Auska bore witness as Domon manifested before her, his hand glowing, and planted it upon her brow. In that instant she looked into his eyes, seeing a kind of understanding in the depths of his eyes, as he pronounced judgment upon Auska and Unit 02 both. "Gundam fight international treaty article one: a Unit who's head is destroyed is disqualified." A Blinding flash, A cry felt more the heard, and a rainbow of "signal lost" errors sprung across the whited out display.

Outside, Unit 02 collapsed backwards, its head armor evaporated, and a precise hand shaped mark of scorched flesh upon the center of its head. The machine of Domon was poised behind it, right hand outstretched and still flat as it had been an instant before. As the massive Evangelion toppled backward, the machine withdrew its hand, the white glow dispersing in a shower of sparks upon the ground. Turning, Domon took up the massive weight of the Evangelion on Shining Gundam's back, rolled it to the side with a earth shaking crash, and opened the cockpit, striding out into the sunlight, he headed for the now discharged plug of Unit 02, which was spraying LCL out in every direction, its surface not unmarked, a precise scale hand print upon the center of its length.

The hatch automatically opened, and from inside came the stench of burnt flesh, and a vapor of orange Myst that rose into the sky. Paying it no mind, the man who had done in her pride looked in upon the young girl who's pride he had shattered. Strewn across the chair, wearing a red suit like a primitive version of the Mobile Trace suit he himself wore, her forehead smoldered, and as he gently moved the fiery bangs aside, he viewed the brand she would bear until the end of her life as testament to her own foolish pride. Auska awoke, unable to process what had happened, and looked up to the face of the man leaning over her. "You now know about where your pride will take you-" Domon's retort to her earlier words died stillborn on his tongue as he saw what Auska's overloaded senses could not tell her, that she was crying. "Tell me your name." the weak and dazed voice that came from her was not the voice of the girl he had fought with words and weapons. "Auska." Nodding, he continued. "Auska, Pride is a lonely road where you push all those who care about you aside, and when you reach the end of life, you come to realize that all that matters is who you have standing beside you." at her silence, he continued. "I saw the real you for that moment, when you faced the end of your life staring you in your eyes." turning away, he said to her. "Take this chance, and tell him now while you have the chance." he began the walk back to Shining Gundam, thinking to himself. 'It is her choice now, someone who truly had nothing to live for but pride would have died. Rain, I think I understand what it would have been like for you if we had been in each others places.' lieing there, staring up at the sky, Auska could not take her mind off the "Idiot" she somehow knew the man had meant.

Shinji was the first to reach the entry plug, having broken Unit 01 out of its restraints and actually ran up the shaft himself in his terror for her life, ignoring the orders of his superiors, he simply could not stop hearing the sound of Auska's wordless cry of loss echoing in his mind, the sound of a person dieing with their dreams crushed into the very wounds that they knew were there end...

"Auska... please, say something Auska...Please...Call me an idiot like you always do..." 'I must not run away from her!' met with silence. "What do you want from me?" A single tear drops unto to her head, in the center of the brand. It rolls down her blanked face until it mingles with her own.

"Stay." 'I need you.'


	2. Slice 2: Infinitus Rei Officina

FanFiction Loaf Slice 2  
By Brian Funk

Copyrights the property of their respective owners.

Slice Title: "Infinitus Rei Officina"

"Pattern Blue!"  
"Lock it down, where is it?"  
"Its in the center of Tokyo three!"  
"Visual?"  
Standing serene in his customary white shirt and black pants, Karowu smiled, and the defenses began to shatter around him.  
"What the hell?"  
"Source confirmed, its him..." dread at the sight of the white haired threat was plain to hear.  
"Prepare to Launch Evangelion's, keep him busy until then with the defense grid!" Misato took immediate charge of the situation.  
"Sir, which Eva? Unit 02 refuses to sync with the pilot, and Unit 01 is in stasis."  
Gendo's voice broke in, preventing Misato from asking the question.  
"Unit 00."  
"But sir, Unit 00 is barely even operational, it could nev-"  
"It must suffice until Unit 01 can be activated, so long as it keeps the angel busy until that time, its damage is irrelevant." turning back with anger written upon her face, Misato moved on.  
"Where is Rei?"  
"In the cage."  
"Rei, we need you to hold the Angel off until Shinji can bring out Unit 01."  
Without saying a word, she climbed into the plug. A moment passed, and Unit 00 shuddered, then collapsed.  
"What?" it was Akagi who explained, despair on in her voice.  
"Its damaged past the Heinfleck limit... It can not synchronize with a pilot."  
"Send up unit 02 as a distraction." The commander's desperate order was conveyed with his usual detachment, but Kozo could detect the desperation in him. Then something unexpected happened.  
"No, I will stop it." No one had bothered to close the Line to the Cage holding Unit 00, and Rei's voice came through clearly. All eyes turned to the monitor.  
"Theres no time to get Unit 02's software reset!" as Rei walked towards the exit to Unit 00's bay, the words reached her.  
"Unit 02 is not required." most faces on the bridge simply conveyed confusion. Ikari's mask broke for a moment, his hands came down to the desk, and he gaped in naked terror at her words.  
"Second AT Field detected, Location... Eva 00 cage and 2 Meters from first signature?" today it seems, was a day filled with redefining the limits of what is possible.

In Tokyo three central park, Rei flashed into existence before Tabris. To his credit, Tabris maintained the same superior smug smile that had defined his face since he had appeared. "And what are you doing here shadow of Lilith? Where is your vaunted Evangelion, your cute little doll of Adam." "Mankind has spent its time, forging blades on a hill of swords, never once retreating, nor aware of gain, never once victorious. They withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for ones arrival, waiting for the arrival of the weapon, with which they could slay Fate." Rei simply stepped forward, to the point were either could have reached out and laid their hand on each others shoulder She blinked, smiled, and spoke in Latin for the second time in her existence. In the control room, the Magi translated into Japanese in real time, compiling clips of Rei so that it seemed she was speaking both languages at once.

"Ego sum Permaneo meus versus,  
Meus valde viscus quod animus es ornamentum,  
Ego partum super millies milies,  
Ego nex,  
Tamen non vita,  
Ego haud alius causa ut futurus,  
Etiamnunc iam Ego meus causa.  
Sic ut Ego precor, Infinitus Rei Officina"

I am the Last in my line,  
My very flesh and soul are weapons,  
I have been created over a thousand times,  
I knew death,  
But not life,  
I had no other reason to exist,  
Yet now I have my own reason.  
So as I pray, "Infinite Rei Works"

As the last words left her mouth, Reality seemed to shatter like glass.

"What? A Sea of Dirac?" Tabris's confused shout echoed about an undefined orange lit world with a Replica of the Design in the office of commander Ikari the color of blood upon the ground as its only feature. Scattered about randomly were Rei's by the thousands, standing, sitting, kneeling, or slumped as if dead no two dressed quite the same.  
"In this place beyond limits," (The scattered Rei Clones abruptly animate, turn to face Tabris and speak as one) "I can use all of myself to fight you."

"Rei and the Angel have fallen into a Dirac Sea!"  
"What is generating it?" Misato's voice was frantic, the memory of the 12th Angel filling her mind.  
"The magi provisionally state that the inverted AT Field is from... Central Dogma, section 36?" Maya's shocked and confused voice betrayed her lack of knowledge  
"The Storage lab?" 'The Reiquarium? But...' Retsuko could not believe it, it was something they had tried to accomplish for years and now Rei was doing it, on her own.  
"Then I have seen enough... Major, you have command." and with those words Gendo Ikari walked from the command deck. His Sensei following.

Inside the bubble of unreality, Tabris was starting to actually sweat, manifesting his AT Field through yet another Rei as it threw itself at him, He started feeling an emotion he could not place, for it had never come to him before. The field of Rei corpses, some simply dismembered parts, others reduced to a fine mist, surrounding him was now nearly up to his knees. 'For every one I destroy, another comes out of this damn place, and I cant use my AT Field to block them.' The Angel had tried this initially, only surviving the experience because when they grabbed him his shirt had torn. They had passed through his AT Field without even slowing down measurably He had tried neutralizing their AT Fields with his own, to reduce them back to LCL. They _had none_. The simple impossibility of that had shaken him more then he would ever admit, because even the Angels needed AT Fields to exist. The edges of the world were undefined, reality falling away into a fog of quantum uncertainty as he tried to gauge the size of the place. His S2 Engine was by necessity much more compact then his brethren, and extremely high performance. But what it gained in size and power, it paid for with endurance. The fact his body temperature had risen at all was an indication that it was starting to wear itself down. 'They aren't even that much of a threat, they have no weapons, no strength beyond a normal Lilin, I should be able to fight _any_ number of them and win!' Another of the Rei's, this one in a Lab coat to large for it, chimed in moments before he flayed the flesh from its bones. "Any number, but Infinity is a concept, not a number." 'the worst part of this is, I keep killing them, and they keep coming, _smiling_!'

In the office of The Supreme Commander of NERV:  
"You are quitting?" It was as valid a question as any of the others flying through his mind as Kozo watched his pupil collapse into the chair behind his desk.  
"Yes, if she did this, it can only mean she has another reason to exist, one more compelling then my purpose for her. We have only one more Viable spare, and she will use it to return. There is no other way out of where Rei has gone."  
"Why?"  
"You can not return from a place that does not, never has, never will and never _could _exist."  
"But what about Yui?"  
"She is lost to us now, our... my vision of Third Impact is impossible now."  
"Then why are you still here?"  
"Because, if she truly has a reason to exist now, I can not abandon her the way Yui did me. I am human, much as it pains me to admit it."

Steam rising from his head, cloths little more then rags and blood seeping from the torn portions of his scalp and flesh, Tabris cut a pathetic figure. They had never stopped, and it felt like an eternity had passed. 'How can they keep throwing themselves into certain death like this? All things have the will to live.' "Yes, but the will can be consciously overridden, if you just have a cause." Slipping on the corpse of the swimsuit clad Rei his At Field had torn in half that had spoken, Tabris continued to move forward, the wake of bloody parts behind him a mute testament. Then he stopped, and stared incredulously at the sight before him. 'Impossible, This is were I started.' "This is the truth, the reality behind the graven image you saw outside." While the attacks continued, a Single Rei stood out, dressed what could only be described as Unit 00's armor. "What are you?" "I told you, I am the last in the line." seeing the Angel was confused, so much so that it did not notice the attacks had stopped, a veritable ocean of Rei's gathering around him, Rei responded. "Evangelion is called the Ultimate Decisive Battle Weapon, it would more accurately be named the Penultimate Decisive Battle Weapon." Tabris looked down from her eyes, and asked contempt dripping from its countenance "And the final weapon, the weapon that could slay fate is you?" "No." The Angel looked up "The weapon able to slay fate, _is_ humanity." The Angels scream could not be heard over the sounds of the mass of Rei's crashing unto him.


	3. Slice 3: ECS

Fan Fiction Loaf 3

By: Sorain

Below is the basic idea for a piece of Fan Fiction. I may, or may not flesh it out beyond this. If you find it to your liking, do tell me.

E.C.S.

Following the second incident where the Evangelion "Went Berserk" Misato has come to doubt that is the truth. The mysteries of NERV continued to confound her, but there had to be a connection between the Blue entry plug shaped pendant Rei always wore and the Red one Shinji did. Thinking of Shinji brought her back to her initial line of thought. Shinji has begun to act strangely, he is himself most of the time, but just before the fourth he was pulled off a student named "Toji", the Section 2 footage truly disturbed her, one moment he was his normal quiet apologetic self, then Toji hit him and he started to cry, then Toji said something. She dearly wished she could find out what he said, because the moment it came out of his mouth Shinji... changed. She could not get the images of him grabbing Toji's leg and pulling him down, the kids head cracking on the concrete sounding through her head despite the lack of audio, and then his attack on the larger, stronger, more physically fit kid from running on a loop in her mind. This was not the attack of a child's brawl, a trained combatant, or an angry man, sane people do not try to pick up their enemy by their neck and throw them against the wall, they do not head butt them (certainly so unskillfully he must have nearly knocked himself senseless) and then try to... she did not know what the kid would have done next, since the section two agents tackled him to the side, taking the kid down and wrenching that poor student from his grip. There was a single still shot, a frame taken from the second angle survey camera, a close up of what looked like Shinji's face, but her mind could not tie it to the quiet child she had lived with the past two weeks. Shinji could not have a face nearly foaming at the mouth, pupils dilated in the way only people on combat drugs, those so deep in shock they fought on with lethal wounds, or frenzied madmen did.

The worst part was the way the commander dissected the event, his observation that "This is wasteful, the child is clearly unconscious from his head hitting the ground, everything after that is pointless." Was inhuman, cold, clinical, like this was a computer model, and not the real world, while the kid was still out cold in a hospital, kept under by drugs while the sutures on the back of his skull help him heal the wound.

"Ritsu, could you please explain what is going on with him?"

"Look, I am not a psychologist... I can only give a example."

"Anything, I just don't understand it."

"In mechanics, when you place stress on an object, it starts to edge up an imaginary curve called the stress strain curve. At a given point anything will bend, but once the strain ends, it springs back to its shape."

"So Shinji will recover with a little break?"

"No, I am not finished, just let me finish my example!"

"Fine, fine."

"Once it reaches its limit, the point at which it can not stand, there is a reaction. Some objects fracture, coming apart to release the strain, Others begin to deform plasticly, this point is important, because once that point is passed, the object can never be the same shape again."

"You mean Shinji?"

"This is the last time I will tell you to wait, before I stop trying."

"When a smith beats metal into shape, that is plastic deformation as well, forging a lump of metal into a useful shape, and removing impurities at the same time. The smiths of old would work an immense sheet of metal into a single blade with as many as several thousand layers, creating swords of exceptional strength that could compare to the material of an Evangelions armor." 'That was the goal of Rei's upbringing, to forge a sword for his raised fist that would never bend, never deform...'

"So the question is, is Shinji being beaten into a shape, or simply deformed beyond recognition?"

"For all we know Misato, it is both. Remember the old adage about beating swords into plough sheers applies both ways. A jagged edged blade is a cruel and terrible weapon, but it works. It looks like it should not cut as well, or be as strong, as it is, but there is a reason they were banned as being too cruel."

"You really think Shinji could become cruel?"

"Metal, good strong metal, is equally good as a tool or a weapon, and the same forces shape both." 'I suppose that is as close as I can come.'

"Then lets just pray that our resident weapon smith is making a blade out of his son that he can live with." 'And that the Blade does not slay the smith.'

The worst part for her was that after the incident, when the time to fight the fourth angel had come, his sync ratio had rose 3 points. But when the Eva was sent flying into a mountain, after Shinji cried "No, it can't-" they could hear his sobbing, and the visual from outside did not help, some idi- Kensuke Aida? He was there when-

"Shinji, you need to get that civilian out of there, if you don't he could die."

Shinji looked up from his hands, and saw the kid.

"Open the entry plug!"

over the external speakers carried her voice. "Get in, NOW!"

the fourth Angel was taking its damn time getting to them, cutting its way though the buildings.

Once the kid climbed in, and the plug was sealed again, there was only a moment of static before the interior went to red.

"The Angel just hit the power line!"

There was no option now, they had to get the kid to shelter, and get the Eva supplied with power.

"Shinji, fall back!"

He hesitated for an instant, an instant too long.

The Angel had reached Unit 01, and plunged its whips into its torso. Shinji evidently did not feel much, his sync ratio was down to 31 now.

"knock it off you and fall back or you could die!"

Misato did not hear what he said, what he whispered through suddenly tear laden eyes, though Kensuke did. "I don't want to die..." Misato saw the look of terror on Shinji's passengers face, a look of recognition, of something you never wanted to know again before you. Before she could speak, The Sync graph came up onto the main display, which it only did when a change of more then 10 points was detected Worse, the battery time remaining change display came up, going from 4:32, down to 0:47, along with a symbol Misato had no time to recognize in her shock. She despaired, 'No, if his sync falls more then 11 points, he wont even be able to move!'

Later, she decided never to tempt fate like that again. The display showed a simple arrow pointing up, and a number, 32. When she later looked up the symbol, she found that it stood for "Overdrive: Diversion of maximum battery power to operation, maximum duration is 1/5th normal, with a corresponding increase in physical power." The manual noted that this setting strained the batteries enough that it could cause permanent erosion of battery life.

Above the command center, on the side of a mountain, Evangelion 01 twitched visibly, and then struck, the bolts constraining its mouth straining and deforming somewhat as the echo of a growl resounded. Inside the plug, Shinji strained forward, clutching the grips, that grip being the only thing keeping him from falling forward. Growling, highlighted in the red tones of the internal lighting, eyes wide and pupils dilated to the point that it seemed he had nothing but black for eyes. Outside that little pocket of blood red terror, the Evangelions arms reached up for the roots of the Energy whips plunged into its chest. It grabbed the roots of the arms sporting them in a grip that crushed into the Angels side, breaking the hand armor in the process, ending the whips glow abruptly, before lifting the Angel above it, smashing its head through the bone's as it did so. Rearing its head back into the hill hard enough to damage its own rear head armor, it smashed its face into the Angels core, breaking the horn in the process, and further cracking the skull armor. The growl turning to a roar, its helmet's jaw piece shattering open to echo the open mouth of the now screaming pilot, it clamped the teeth few knew it possessed onto the Angels core, shattering little parts of it the size of cars as it bit down. Then it Tore the Angels flimsy arms off, Shinji's hands pulling the grips open and without unclench springing up to mimic the motion. Through the blood spray from each side, and the screech somehow made by the Angel, the sight of Unit 01 grabbing the base of the Angel's head in both hands, thumbs alone visible from its viewpoint was presented to them. Then, with the sound of all to normal tearing flesh, in mirror of the pilot's actions in the entry plug, it ripped off the Angels false head, holding onto the torso sized chunk above its own head. Then it started to smash down, smashing the Angel with its own body part to the frenzied and intermingled screams of the pilot and Roars of the Evangelion. The core gave way with a sound of shattering glass, and the Evangelions jaws snapped shut on something that exploded with blood for an instant before exploding with Light and energy.

"The Pilot has lost consciousness, The LCL could not supply oxygen fast enough..."

"And that kid?"

"Reserve vital monitors show two heartbeats in the entry plug, the second on the verge of unconsciousness from blood pressure."

The feed from the plug returned for a second, showing Shinji slumped forward, and Kensuke curled into a fetal ball, eyes unfocused and hyperventilating. Then the feed ended with the Evangelions power supply being depleted.

"How is Shinji?"

"Physically, he is actually in terrible shape, he nearly broke his own arm bones somehow, and from the damage, it was from over strain by his own muscles."

"What?"

"Human muscles can exert more strength then our own bones can withstand, even without working out, theres things you can do to harden them, but they strengthen muscles too. In the end when someone pushes hard enough, they can and will break their own body. Micro Fractures are covering all his bones from the shoulder down, and we nearly lost him when his marrow leaked into his bloodstream through them. His jaw and teeth show signs of intense strain, like he tried to bite though a I-beam. His muscles themselves are as torn as a patent I once had that was so hopped up on PCP he nearly crippled himself by lifting too much weight, but given time and diet they will recover, muscles grow stronger by tearing and repairing themselves stronger then before."

"What about Kensuke?"

the doctor sighed, and flipped past at least fifteen pages of notes covering the assorted damages to the kid.

"Physically, he is a little shaken up, couple of light bruises But thats not the problem."

seeing Misatos visual question mark, he continued.

"Shock, extreme physical response to fear caused it. When he was brought in here he was hyperventilating so much we had to put an oxygen mask on him. I do not know about his mind, its not my department, but he seems to have withdrawn to try and process whatever happened. We have him sedated as well, though for him its not to avoid needing to give him morphine"

she could only imagine what seeing that up close was like...

"I know its not my place to question NERV, but just what the hell are you people doing? That Ikari kid strained his entire cardiovascular system, and apparently nearly broke his own arms! People have a pain response to warn them about that, and as far as I know only three things can let a person do what happened here: drugs to suppress the pain, Extreme Martial Arts training to push through it, and being so desperate that their mind blocks out the damage, placing them into a state of shock. With respect to NERV, that kid in there is _not_ a Martial Artist."

in the office of Gendo Ikari, a single picture of what looks like a dummy plug on a cord Labeled ECS, hanging around Shinjis neck is shown.

"Once we have an accident, Twice we have a fault, Three times is delinquent, and Four times is the fall." - Gendo is viewing the footage of the Fourth Angel battle along side the Third.

"You will learn just what is causing the system to engage outside of the Evangelion, and not on command. I will not have years of work on this gone in an instant."

once Ritsuko left the room, Kozo spoke up.

"You should have thought about possible instability in the system before you placed it around his neck."

"He has no anger outside of the system, there is no reason to believe that this is beyond salvage yet. Besides the Mark two has worked perfectly all these years, if anything it is proof that I improved on her work."

"You realize that-" He pointed to the still shot of Shinji Roaring from the fourth Angels fight. " Is the real Shinji Ikari, right?"

"Of course, that is why _she_ made the system in the first place. Adapting it is not an exact science."

'I don't think she ever meant for that thing to be run for such a long period... is it wise to suppress his emotions into that little thing? If the vessel containing his actual feelings ever cracked, much less broke... and if the valve we keep opening to win this war can not be shut again? What then Gendo?'

then the most terrifying thought to come to his mind in years came to the old man. 'What if the Mark two were to fail? Do we even _have_ a plan if Rei goes beyond our control?'

The Emotion Containment System, chief designer Yui Ikari, Keyed to the individual it used a principle of metaphysical biology to contain the emotions of anger, hate and loathing for others. The Mark Two, chief designer Gendo Ikari, designed to contain all emotions of the keyed subject. The tube itself is filled with core material of the subject, and can be unsealed remotely to release the emotions. Used to grant control over the extreme emotional reactions of Shinji Ikari, it built up the emotions in a manner that meant that when it was unsealed all the emotional strength came out at once. Yui refused to use it for longer then a few days at a time, concerned with the potential implications of overloading it. The Mark Two was designed for long term storage of all emotional input, but the compromises in its design meant that it had much lower capacity. Rei was brought up to have as little emotional reaction as possible to combat this.


End file.
